Xi silences dissent on anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre

Commemorations have been scheduled in Hong Kong later this yearJEROME FAVRE/EPA

China has launched a sweeping crackdown on social media and internet use as it prepares for the 30th anniversary in June of the bloody suppression of student-led protests in Tiananmen Square.

The internet censor has unveiled a six-month campaign against online “negative and harmful information” even though the highly sensitive milestone is already banned from mention by name.

The government censors the internet widely through a “Great Firewall” of regulation and has recently started prosecuting those who use proxy servers, or virtual private networks, to access banned sites such as Facebook and Google.

President Xi has a blanket policy of official amnesia about the events of 1989, which marked the greatest challenge to the Communist Party during its seven decades in power.

Massive democracy protests…

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